Chapter Text
Zuko yearned for a life he could never have.
One where they’d sit in the gardens and watch the fire lilies bloom. One where he’d watch the afternoon sun kiss her cheeks in her favorite white sundress. One where warm days turned into cool nights—where they’d lay in bed in a house that was just big enough for the two of them.
Instead, she sat next to him at a table that stretched across the room, the chairs dotted with advisors of all nations and conversations consisting only of politics and policy.
Rather than the sundress she loved so dearly, a traditional gown rimmed her shoulders, coating her in shades of red and gold. She looked beautiful, but Zuko knew that it wasn’t what she wanted.
His thumb rubbered circles over her knuckles from under the table and she hummed in contentment with the action.
Neither of them were quite paying attention. The rest of his advisors had begun to chat amongst themselves, but it was clear that neither the Firelord nor his newly betrothed were involved in any aspect of the meeting.
“Lord Zuko,” an older man from the Earth Kingdom (whose name he couldn’t quite remember) perked up. “Shall we resume this tomorrow? It’s getting rather late.”
Zuko cleared his throat and looked up.
“That should be fine, yes. Enjoy your night everyone.” The room cleared and when she smiled up at him he couldn’t help but feel his heart drop.
“Zuko,” she mused, dancing her fingers along the side of his hand. “What’s going on? You have that look on your face.”
“Nothing I just—“ She cocked her head to the side as he sighed, fiddling with the golden rim of his sleeve. “I’m sorry you had to sit through all that.”
She laughed and he squeezed her hand a little tighter.
“If I didn’t want to be here I wouldn’t.” She held his hand to her mouth, lips brushing over his knuckles. “Do you really this some old man from the upper ring is gonna tell me where I have to be?”
“No, probably not,” he snorted.
“That’s what I thought.”
He gazed at her as she pressed each of his knuckles to her lips, tracing little lines into his fingers. Though the sun wasn’t kissing her cheeks, golden lights swirled against her eyes. Though she wasn’t in a field of fire lilies, she stood out so beautifully in a sea of red.
And though that night they didn’t fall asleep in a house that was just big enough for the two of them, her body curled up against silken layers of moon-soaked sheets.
Zuko yearned for a life he could never have, but if he were to live this one, he was better off living it with her.